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by whattheskyknows



Series: Amasai Week 2020 [4]
Category: New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Amasai Week 2020, Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Comfort, Continuation of The Letter, M/M, Rantaro is sad, Shuichi tries to help, the fic itself is late so y'know, this is for the prompt late but there isn't much about being late or it being late whoops, you can read this on it's own however
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-26
Updated: 2020-03-26
Packaged: 2021-03-01 03:47:24
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,061
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23328739
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/whattheskyknows/pseuds/whattheskyknows
Summary: It’s during a study session when Shuichi realises he hasn’t seen Rantaro for a couple of days now.For the prompt Late
Relationships: Amami Rantaro/Saihara Shuichi
Series: Amasai Week 2020 [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2140761
Comments: 6
Kudos: 43





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**Author's Note:**

> Rantaro isn't the best at talking about his feelings. This fic is a little sad but it does have a happy ending. If possible, you should reach out to others when you're feeling down. 
> 
> This is a continuation of The Letter!

It’s during a study session when Shuichi realises he hasn’t seen Rantaro for a couple of days now. 

Well, he did realise it earlier. On the first day Rantaro didn’t show up, Shuichi had been disappointed. They’ve been dating for a full month now. It’s been a full four weeks since Shuichi had left him that letter on his desk and a full four weeks since both Rantaro and Shuichi went around the entire school to find who sent it. Shuichi recalls that day with fondness. Even though Rantaro had figured out early on it was Shuichi who sent the letter, he still played along and pretended not to know who sent it. 

Their desks are together now. It didn’t take much persuading for Rantaro and Shuichi to be sat together, although now they sit right at the front of the class. Which doesn’t bother Shuichi too much because yeah, he enjoys learning and he likes to take as many notes as possible during class. His teacher likes him too which is a bonus and apparently Rantaro’s grades have been slowly going up since being moved to the front. 

So, when Shuichi spent a week looking at an empty desk, he was sad. Kaede always cheered him up. She also noticed Rantaro’s absence and whisked Shuichi off during breaks and lunch to distract him. Him, Kaede, Maki and Kaito spent a lot of time together whilst Rantaro was away. Surprisingly, Shuichi and Maki get on really well and so she spent a lot of time talking to him whilst Kaede and Kaito enthusiastically talked together. 

Even now, Maki is sitting next to him. They’re in a library, sat by a colourful table, which is covered in papers. Once again, Kaede and Kaito have forgotten to do their homework and Shuichi and Maki are the ones helping them out. It’s not like Kaede and Kaito are bad students, it’s just sometimes they get so preoccupied that they often forget to actually do things like homework. At least they actually try to get it done though. Some students would just forget all about it. 

Maki has her tongue sticking out as she finishes writing down some dates on a piece of paper. She’s helping Shuichi make a time table because he’s trying to fix up his busy schedule. He doesn’t mean to get so busy but he’s not very good at saying no to people so sometimes he gets overwhelmed with how much work he has to do. Now, Maki helps him out by prioritising tasks for him. On occasion, she’ll even tell him to drop some tasks. She’s the one who tells whoever asked for help that Shuichi can’t help them anymore though. 

Shuichi sneaks glances at her whilst he goes through a recent case, the pen ink on his paper still wet. If he’s not careful, he might smudge his work and he doesn’t have the energy to rewrite everything. It’s a good thing he’s careful when he writes. Unlike Kaito, who frequently hands in work that is almost unreadable. 

“You should have next week mostly free,” Maki tells him as she jots down the last date. “I cleared out anything that didn’t seem important. I want you to relax next week.”

“But I’m not stressed,” Shuichi insists. 

Maki shoots him a dry look. “You’ve been looking extra pathetic lately since Amami hasn’t been turning up to lessons. You’re taking the week off and that’s final.”

Shuichi peeks at the time table Maki has made for him. It doesn’t look too busy. She’s mostly written down that he has to go to lessons and some small tasks that aren’t too important. Quite frankly, it looks like a rather boring week. Shuichi can sometimes get restless and he actually hates it when he doesn’t have anything to do. It means he has too much time to think and Shuichi doesn’t like it when he has to sit with his thoughts for too long.

Perhaps Maki sees his distressed expression because she turns to him calmly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “You’ll be fine. I’m sure the class will keep you occupied.” Maki doesn’t mention that she’s messaged Tsumugi and asked her to invite Shuichi over to her house a couple times more often next week to watch anime. Tsumugi happily agreed to Maki’s request, saying that she had found something that Shuichi might like. 

“Yeah, but…” Shuichi hesitates. “Won’t that just make me even busier the week after?”

“Of course not,” Maki says with a frown. “Hey, try not to worry too much. I promise I haven’t done anything that will stress you out too much. I just want you to look after yourself.”

It’s strange. Shuichi would’ve never thought Maki was the type of person to care so much. Then again, it would also be mean of him to presume that Maki is a mean person based on appearance alone. She does look kind of intimidating since she does have a resting bitch face. However, her actions are kind. She holds the door open for people, she always listens when people want to talk, she helps Kaede and Kaito even though they don’t really deserve it most of the time and she helps Shuichi out when he’s having a bad day. 

“Thank you,” Shuichi says softly and pretends he doesn’t see Maki smile at him. If he pointed it out, she would probably threaten him. 

The table starts to suddenly wobble and Maki and Shuichi turn to see Kaito with his head in his hands. Kaede is laughing at him. 

“What are you stuck on now?” Maki huffs, her eyebrows pressing together. “You should know all this stuff.”

“It’s not my fault I don’t understand!” Kaito retorts, jabbing a finger at a random worksheet. 

It’s not like Kaito is dumb. That’s far from the truth. Kaito might just be one of the most intelligent people in the class. Both Kaito and Kokichi constantly compete for being the smartest in the class actually. It’s just, Kaito usually gets high scores but usually loses a couple of marks. Kokichi manages to get full marks every time. Everyone is convinced he’s cheating but Shuichi knows for a fact Kokichi studies in the library late into the night most days.

Kaito is smart. He just gets really stressed easily when working and that makes him frustrated. If the rest of the group wasn’t here then Kaito probably might’ve walked out by now. 

Kaede grabs Kaito’s hand. “Hey! We can get through this together! Which question are you stuck on?”

Shuichi watches fondly as Kaede grabs Kaito’s worksheet and reads through it. 

“Ah! You just forgot to do something here!”

Maki rolls her eyes as Kaito and Kaede continue to work through the worksheets together. 

“Are you going to find where Amami went?” Maki asks him, keeping an eye on Kaito and Kaede as they work through a maths sheet together. 

Shuichi pauses. “I’m not sure if I should.”

“Why?”

“I don’t know if he wants my help,” Shuichi murmurs. “But I don’t want him to think that I don’t care. Because I really do care. I just don’t want to overwhelm him if you know what I mean?”

“Yeah, I get you,” Maki says. “But you’re both dating now. He’ll probably appreciate it if you went to check up on him. Don’t get me wrong, he probably doesn’t mind that you’ve given him space but maybe he needs someone right now.”

“I…” Shuichi puts his thumb to his mouth, tempted to bite down on it. “I think I’ll go and see him tonight.”

“Good,” Maki says. 

\---

Shuichi knocks on Rantaro’s door with his foot since his hands are full. He’s holding a tray of tea because he knows Rantaro likes tea and Shuichi doesn’t know when the last time Rantaro has had some. Shuichi hasn’t seen him go into the dining room for a while now and when he asked Kirumi when the last time she saw him was, she said she wasn’t sure. She gave him a tray of tea and told Shuichi to tell Rantaro she hopes he feels better soon. 

He waits a couple of seconds before he hears the sound of a lock clicking and the door opens. 

Straight away, Shuichi realises that Rantaro has been sat in the dark for a while now. Rantaro doesn’t look okay. His hair is messy and Rantaro has probably been running his hands through it for a while now. Shuichi also notices that Rantaro’s eyes look a little red and that his face is a little splotchy. 

“Hey,” Rantaro says, sniffing. He wipes his eyes with the sleeve of his jacket. “O-Oh, you brought tea.”

Shuichi nods and steps into the room. He’s been in Rantaro’s room many times before so he easily finds his desk despite it being dark. At least Rantaro turns on his salt rock lamp, which lights up the room softly. Shuichi sets the tray down and passes a cup to Rantaro, who looks at it with a tired expression. 

Rantaro’s room is a little messier than usual. Everyone’s room layouts are the same since they’re all staying in the same dormitory. The rooms aren’t particularly small but they can get full easily. Rantaro’s room is usually full of souvenirs and his walls are covered in maps. A lot of maps have writing on them or angry red marks covering them. Shuichi can tell there’s a lot more frustrated red scribbles on the maps than usual. 

“Um, Tojo said she hopes you feel better soon,” Shuichi decides to say, taking a seat on the edge of Rantaro’s bed delicately. 

“She did?” Rantaro responds. “I’ll have to thank her later. It’s just, I’m a little busy right now so…”

“I’m sure she’ll understand,” Shuichi tells him. “She made us this tea.”

“She made my favourite,” Rantaro comments, watching as steam rises from his cup. He’s holding the cup with both of his hands. Maybe he’s cold?

Honestly, Shuichi doesn’t know what to say right now. He’s an awkward person at the best of times. Usually, it’s other people that comfort him because sometimes he just has those days where he doesn’t even want to get out of bed and that’s fine. It really is. He knows he’s allowed to have bad days but that doesn’t mean he has to like them. 

Right now though, he doesn’t have time to panic. It’s his turn to do the comforting now. He hates the sad look on Rantaro’s face. Well, he doesn’t hate Rantaro for being sad. He hates that something has made Rantaro sad. He’ll do anything for Rantaro to smile right now. Well, for Rantaro to give him a real smile. Rantaro is great at giving people fake smiles. Shuichi hasn’t let Rantaro know but he’s usually good at telling when Rantaro is smiling for real and when his smiles are fake. 

Rantaro is currently wearing one of his fake smiles. It makes Shuichi’s chest clench. 

He rests his head on Rantaro’s shoulder, causing him to jump. Thankfully, Rantaro doesn’t spill any of his tea.

“You okay, Shu?”

“I’m fine,” Shuichi says. “But I’m really worried about you.”

“Hey, you have nothing to worry about,” Rantaro tells him. He sounds too distant to be telling the truth. “I’m fine.”

“Well…” Shuichi wavers. “You haven’t been in class for the last week. Usually, you only leave because you’re looking for one of your sisters but you’ve just been in your room the entire time, right?”

Rantaro looks at him. “Well, aren't you smart?”

Shuichi swallows. “S-Sorry…”

“No, wait…” Rantaro puts his cup of tea down. “Shit, I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to snap at you. You’re sweet for checking up on me and here I am just…”

“It’s okay,” Shuichi insists, blinking quickly to hide the fact that his eyes are stinging right now. “I didn’t mean to try and pry. If you want to stay in your room then you can stay in your room. Well, in healthy doses of course. I’m just really worried about you and I don’t want you to do anything stupid. I just want to help you.”

Rantaro takes a deep breath before sighing, flopping backwards onto his bed. 

“I thought I was going to find one of my sisters,” Rantaro reveals finally. “Apparently, someone thought they saw a girl with green hair in France and I actually took a plane there on Monday but it turns out the rumours were false. Or maybe they weren’t. I could’ve just missed her but, ah…”

He sniffs and presses his hands against his face. 

“I don’t know what to do, Shu,” Rantaro admits tiredly. “I really thought I would’ve found at least one of them by now. It’s been years since they went missing and I still haven’t even found any of them. What if they’re gone for good?”

Shuichi puts his own cup down on the floor carefully and lies down next to Rantaro. “Hey...look at me.”

Rantaro keeps his hands pressed against his face. His breathing is a little heavy but Shuichi thinks Rantaro should be fine. Hopefully. 

“I don’t mean to be so useless,” Rantaro whispers. “I’m trying, I really am. But what if I’m too late? What if my sisters are dead? It’s been so long. What if they didn’t manage to find help on time? If they die then that’s on me.”

“It’s not on you,” Shuichi says firmly. He’s shaken since he’s never seen this side of Rantaro before, the raw and vulnerable side that he always hides. “It’s not your fault. You’ve spent years looking for them and I’m so proud of you. They have to be out there somewhere and I’m sure they’re all waiting for you. If they’re anything like you then I bet they’re also trying to find a way back home.”

“It’s been years,” Rantaro repeats. “T-They would’ve gotten an airplane or a boat back and…”

“They were all kids when they went missing,” Shuichi tells him. “And they all went missing in foreign countries. It could just be that they weren’t able to communicate that they were lost and someone has taken them in. There’s so many reasons why they haven’t managed to come home yet.”

Rantaro is still holding his hands against his face, breathing slowly and carefully. “What if I’m one of them?”

“Rantaro? What do you mean?”

“They might hate me for leaving them,” he says. “They might have given up on me.”

“Don’t think like that,” Shuichi responds. “Hey, I’m gonna hug you. Is that okay?”

Rantaro doesn’t give him a verbal answer but he does nod so Shuichi rests his head on Rantaro’s chest and carefully wraps his arms around him. He can hear Rantaro’s heart beating frantically. It’s a little too fast for Shuichi’s liking but it’s not like he can force Rantaro to calm down. Instead, he does what he can and if that means holding Rantaro until he’s ready to talk more then so be it.

“Everyone has been wondering where you’ve been,” Shuichi says quietly. “They’re all really worried about you. Even Ouma has been behaving unusually well this week. Momota asked him if he was okay on Thursday and that was really weird to hear because Momota never asks Ouma how he’s doing.

“Kiibo has been asking after you too. He said that he’s excited to see you again and that you’re one of his favourite people because you’re not loud. Shirogane also asked me to invite you to watch anime with me, her and Ouma if you want? You don’t have to but it’s nice that she asked. Oh yeah! Shinguji found a book that you might like from the library and has put it to the side for you just in case. I think Angie also painted you something and she’ll probably want to give that to you soon.”

Rantaro laughs wetly. “I just don’t understand why they’re all so nice to me.”

“It’s because our class is like one big family,” Shuichi explains. “We might be a really dysfunctional one but we all care about each other. Everyone wants you to come back but they’ll understand if you need more time. You don’t need to push yourself.”

Finally, Rantaro moves his hands. There’s fresh tears on his face and his eyes look sore. 

“Why don’t they hate me?” Rantaro asks. “I leave all of the time without telling anyone, I leave you alone a lot. Why hasn’t Harukawa beaten me up yet?”

“Because she trusts you,” Shuichi says. “She knows you don’t leave for no reason. We all understand you’re still searching for your sisters.”

Rantaro uses the palms of his hands to wipe his eyes. “And I’m doing such a bad job finding them.”

Shuichi starts to drum his fingers against Rantaro’s back, closing his eyes. “Sometimes, it takes me a while to finish a case. I always feel frustrated because I just want to help people but I know if I rush then something bad might happen. It’s ironic too because I’m also scared of finding the truth and when I do reach the end of a case, I usually feel sick. However, in the end I always do what’s right, even if it hurts. Even if it takes me months, whoever I’m helping is always grateful. Some people have even waited years for their cases to be solved. Ah, what I’m trying to say is that not every problem can be solved right away. Some things just take longer than others.”

When Rantaro doesn’t move, Shuichi holds him tighter.

“I’m sorry for rambling. I just want to help you as much as I can,” Shuichi admits. “My offer is still there, you know? I know it’s none of my business but I still want to help you if you’ll let me. I can’t promise I’ll find them straight away but I want to help you find your sisters. I just want you to be happy.”

Shuichi almost jumps when he feels Rantaro’s hands wrap around him. “What did I ever do to deserve you?”

“I should be asking you that,” Shuichi responds. 

He feels Rantaro laugh quietly. “Shu? Can we just lie here for a bit? I don’t think I want to move.”

“That’s fine,” Shuichi agrees, relaxing himself into Rantaro’s hold. 

\---

When Rantaro wakes up the next morning alone, he tries not to feel too disappointed. When he leaves, he fails to notice that his latest set of notes and maps are missing.

\---

Kaito is the first person to get to Rantaro when he walks through the classroom door on Monday morning.

“You’re back!” Kaito cheers, slapping Rantaro on his shoulder. “I’ve missed you, bro!”

“I’m glad you’re feeling better,” Kaede says with more restraint. “We’ve all been waiting for you to return!”

“I hope the tea I made you the other day was up to your standards,” Kirumi adds from her desk. 

Rantaro scratches his neck. “It was delicious, Tojo. Thank you.”

“Tenko is also happy to see that you’re okay,” Tenko says. “She hopes you’re ready to do some learning because you have so much to catch up on!”

“We didn’t even do much last week,” Himiko comments.

“Himiko only thinks that because she fell asleep at her desk for the entire week,” Angie laughs. “Angie will give Himiko her notes to copy from though!”

Himiko smiles before yawning. “Thanks, Angie.”

“Gonta is also happy that Amami back!” Gonta adds, jumping up and down. “Gonta found bugs he think Amami will like and has been keeping them safe!”

“Y-You better not have kept them in the classroom!” Miu squeaks, eyeing the room suspiciously. “I-I swear if you have…”

“Amami! I’m pleased to see you back!” Kiibo says, pushing his way to the front of the classroom. “I have also been making notes for you during the week! Please accept them!”

“Oh?” Rantaro blinks as Kiibo passes him a notebook with neatly written notes. “Thank you!”

“Don’t you all think our classroom is a little quiet?” Ryoma suddenly says, scanning the room. “There’s a couple of us missing and the lesson starts in a minute.”

“Yeah!” Kaito squints suspiciously. “Amami, where’s Shuichi at?”

“And where’s Maki?” Kaede asks, pouting. “I really wanted to see her today!”

“Shinguji is also missing,” Kirumi notes.

“I haven’t seen Ouma all morning either,” Tsumugi says. “And I had something important to tell him too!” 

“Anime isn’t important,” Miu says with a snort.

The teacher enters the classroom only a couple of moments later, looking rather frazzled. She smiles tightly at her class before taking her place behind her desk. 

“Sensei?” Kaede is the first to ask. “Do you know where Saihara and the others are?”

“Saihara requested to have the week off,” the teacher explains. “And said he would also need Shinguji, Harukawa and Ouma too. They all agreed to help him with whatever he’s busy with.”

“But where did they go?” Rantaro asks.

“Amami, you’re back!” the teacher says warmly before clearing her throat. “I’m afraid I can’t disclose that information. Saihara did sound serious when he made his request however.”

“Why did he bring Ouma of all people?” Kaito pouts. “What’s wrong with me?!”

“And Shinguji and Harukawa,” Tenko says. “That’s a strange group of people!”

The teacher sighs. “Everyone! Please calm down!”

“Whatever Saihara is doing isn’t our business,” Kirumi reminds the class. “Now, we should all listen and get ready for class. Our lesson is about to begin. 

Rantaro can’t help but feel a little sad when he sits at his desk. He doesn’t have his boyfriend to smile at today and his teacher has just said that Shuichi is going to be off for a week. 

Last night was tough. Rantaro had spent the week trying and trying and trying and failing and failing and failing. He thought he was at least going to find one of his sisters but he had been wrong. Deep down he knows he should ask for help and reach out to someone but that’s not the sort of person he is. Last night was a one off. He still feels guilty for making Shuichi comfort him even though he really doesn’t deserve it. He feels even more guilty that Shuichi is so understanding. 

Rantaro isn’t the type of person who talks about his problems because he doesn’t want to feel like a burden. Instead, he bottles everything up inside even though he knows that’s unhealthy. One day, he’s going to burst and it’s not going to be pretty. However, Rantaro decides that’s a problem for future Rantaro to deal with. 

His teacher doesn’t tell him off when he daydreams for the day, looking out the window for every lesson. When she asks him if he can stay back after school, he purposely forgets and heads straight to his dorm room. 

\---

A week later, Shuichi returns along with Maki, Kokichi and Kiyo. 

A week later, Rantaro doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry when twelve girls with green hair and green eyes all jump on him once. 

“How?” Rantaro asks. 

Shuichi shrugs. He looks exhausted. They all do. All four of them look like they haven’t slept for the entire week. Then again, that’s more likely what happened. 

“I wanted to help,” Shuichi says. “I’m sorry I told them about the situation.”

“He didn’t tell me,” Maki corrects. “I figured it out.”

“And I overheard!” Kokichi adds. “And decided to help because I have lots of connections, you know? You should’ve asked me for help from the start!”

“He did tell me about the situation,” Kiyo says, closing his eyes. “I do a lot of travelling myself, you see. I recognised quite a few of the places we went to.”

Rantaro opens and closes his mouth. “You...actually found them.”

“D-Don’t feel bad!” Shuichi quickly says, grabbing Rantaro’s hands. “They were really hard to find! I don’t think I would’ve found them as quickly as I did without the others.”

“Like I said, I have connections,” Kokichi says. “Although, I did have to use my one favour from Boss Baby-chan! Now you owe me big time!”

“No he doesn’t,” Maki responds. 

Rantaro looks from Shuichi and his sisters, his lip wobbling. 

“Thank you.”

Shuichi squeezes his hands. “You’re welcome.”

**Author's Note:**

> Tomorrow's prompt will be the final piece of this trilogy. Rantaro and Shuichi are gonna talk some more.


End file.
